Mackay’s famous account serves as a warning to all those who speculate in stocks, real estate, or commodities. As investment brochures routinely say, “Past performance is no quarantee of future returns.” But did Mackay exaggerate? Was this really an extraordinary delusion and an example of the irrationality of crowds? Or was hr too anxious to find another instance of what he called “the great and awful book of human folly?” Did the 17th century
in tulips really do long-term damage to the country’s economic infrastructure?